Wrinkles
by WildCherry45
Summary: Set in Season 2. Haley contemplates her relationship with Nathan after she finally tells him about Chris.


Title: Wrinkles

Author: WildCherry45

Notes: Set in Season 2.

_"In the wrinkles fade your dreams and through the walls I hear a scream. I am weak and you are strong. I said the words did I say them wrong?"_ – Charlie Mars

-

She really couldn't ignore it any longer. In all honesty, ignorance should not have been a choice in the first place. But, it was easy as was denial and in the situation they were currently in, it was so easy to give in.

Haley pushed the hair out of her face as she picked up the stray magazines sprawled across the couch. The whole room smelled like Taylor. Bold, brassy and all too overpowering. She turned up her nose and grabbed the Febreeze bottle on the counter, spritzing the room vigorously before she stacked the magazines into the bin. She let out a heavy sigh, her brown eyes silently surveying the room.

It was getting dark outside and they still weren't home yet. She didn't know why she assumed they would be together. Nathan was probably off at Lucas's or maybe he was off playing basketball with his buddies. There were a plethora of places that he could be and yet all she could seem to focus on was the nagging idea that he might be with Taylor. Who cared if he was? It wasn't as if he would do anything, she tried to convince herself.

Just because she cheated didn't mean he would.

Haley visibly flinched, blinking rapidly as she tried her best to get a grip on her emotions. No, she didn't cheat. She certainly had a chance to but she didn't leave with Chris. That had to mean something. It did mean something, she corrected herself. It did.

It had to.

She could still picture his face and the moment that his whole entire big, confident man of the house façade faded away when she finally told him the truth and everything that happened. She could no longer hide it from him. It was weak of her, she knew because everything would've been so much better if she had just kept it to herself. She silently cursed those critics that always projected the phrase, 'honesty was the best policy'. Whoever came up with that crock of lies certainly needed to try it out themselves.

Honesty was not the best policy. She happened to learn it the hard way. If she had not told him, he would be home right now instead off running with Taylor to only god knows where.

Haley let out a heavy sigh and dropped down onto the couch. Why did she tell him? She wished she could be romantic and say it was because she loved him and because of that she couldn't keep anything from him. But, that was a lie. If she truly loved him, she wouldn't have told him because she knew that it would hurt him. She knew.

But, she told him anyway. And why? Because it made her feel better. It lessened the burden of the lies and deceit and now she no longer had to carry them on her shoulders alone. He knew now.

She thought it would make things better. She was only 16. She still clung onto the naïve belief that if she was a good person and admitted up to her mistakes, things would be okay again. People would forgive her.

That was a lie. Nathan didn't forgive her. She didn't know if he ever would. He had good reason to be angry. If she were in his position, she would be going through the same motions.

Except she wasn't in his position and she didn't know how he felt or is still feeling. All she knew at that moment was her own guilt and her own pain. She closed her eyes, her eyelashes brushing against her cheeks as she sat there in silence.

She could stay this way forever. Silence was easy. If she let her thoughts flow away, maybe the problems would as well. If she closed her eyes long enough, she would be back to last year when the complications and burdens of something as serious as marriage was still in the far off future, not even concocted into thought yet. She was still a tutor and he was still the jerk that she had an undeniable attraction towards.

The door opened. A cool gust of wind blew in and away billowed her nostalgic memories of the past. Her eyes snapped open and she saw him, standing there in all his masculine glory.

Taylor was right. He was hot. He was every bit of man that she could have ever wanted and she was lucky to have him. She wished she could've said the same for him.

He didn't look at her. That hurt more than anything else. He seemed to barely noticed her as he kicked off his shoes and dropped his keys onto the counter. He disappeared down the hallway, she assumed to peel off the clothes of the day and change into something comfortable, something stupid or cutesy that only those close to his heart were allowed to see.

The door opened again and in walked Taylor. She was saying something to her but she couldn't hear. All she could see were the movements of her mouth but she couldn't decipher the noises from static. It was all blurring together now.

Haley watched the interaction between her sister and her husband in silence.

It was easier that way.

-


End file.
